British troops sent to patrol Iran border

British forces in Iraq have been sent to patrol the volatile border with Iran amid U.S. fears of a "proxy war" orchestrated by Tehran.

Troops have been deployed from the southern Iraqi city of Basra to help with protection duties and monitor any supplies crossing from the Iranian side to support Iraqi militants.

The deployment of up to 350 British troops came after the Americans claimed elements close to the Iranian regime have stepped up supplies of weapons to Shia militias in recent weeks in preparation for attacks inside Iraq.

It also comes as Washington has heightened its warnings to Tehran to keep out of the Iraqi conflict, even threatening to declare the Iranian Revolutionary Guards a terrorist organisation.

The guards were responsible for the fiasco in which 15 Royal Navy personnel were captured in March.

At Congressional hearings in Washington this week General David Petraeus, the U.S. commander in Iraq, and Ryan Crocker, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, have made some of the strongest accusations yet against neighbouring Iran.

General Petraeus spoke of a "proxy war" in Iraq while Mr Crocker accused the Iranian government of "providing lethal capabilities to the enemies of the Iraqi state."

British forces, preparing to withdraw from Iraq after their departure this month from Basra Palace, could now find themselves at the frontline of a new conflict.

Brigadier James Bashall, commander of the 1 Mechanised Brigade, based at Basra, said: "We have been asked to help at the Iranian border to stop the flow of weapons and I am willing to do so.

"We know the points of entry and I am sure we can do what needs to be done.

"The U.S. forces are, as we know, engaged in the 'surge' and the border is of particular concern to them."

The mission will include the King's Royal Hussars battle group, 250 of whom were told at the weekend that they would be returning to the UK as part of a drawdown of forces in Iraq.

A Ministry of Defence spokesman in London confirmed British forces were working with Iraqi border protection forces.

British forces were also involved in patrolling the waterways, he said.

The British deployment comes as the Pentagon has announced plans to buld a U.S. base and fortified checkpoints at the frontier.

Major-General Rick Lynch, commander of the U.S. Army's 3rd Infantry Division, said 48 Iranian-supplied roadside bombs had been used against his forces, killing nine soldiers.

The plea came as several presidential hopefuls lined up to question him on his second day of testimony on Capitol Hill.

He faced an angry backlash over his proposal to take more than nine months to reduce U.S. troop levels to the 160,000 that were in Iraq before President Bush's surge strategy.